Start of school a time of excitement

It’s back-to-school time for the more than 51,000 students of USD 259, as well as parochial schools and other area districts. That means drivers need to be extra careful, slowing down in school zones and obeying when school buses display stop. For teachers and administrators, the school year begins with continued frustrations about inadequate state funding and a Legislature that seems hostile to public education. Many districts, including Wichita, are concerned that the state’s new block-grant funding doesn’t account for increasing enrollments. But such “grown-up” worries must not dampen the excitement felt by many students. It’s a new school year, a time for new possibilities. – Phillip Brownlee